David Zinman’s Mahler cycle has now reached the halfway point
and I’m delighted to say that this Fifth lives up to the high
standards – and expectations – of his earlier recordings. It’s
been a rewarding journey, not least because Zinman brings a welcome
clarity and freshness to these familiar scores. He is aided in
this enterprise by an orchestra and recording team who respond
wholeheartedly to his approach. The result is a remarkably intense,
consistently inspired set of readings that continue to delight
and surprise.

Jaded Mahlerians
will certainly sit up and take notice as the Trauermarsch
gets under way. Seldom have those opening triplets sounded so
electric, the orchestral riposte so seismic. Of course it’s
only the beginning but the rest of this movement unfolds at
an unerring pace, tempi well judged, ensemble as crisp and clear
as one could hope for. Zinman isn’t as wild or vehement as some
in the middle section but still there are many epiphanies along
the way. Not surprisingly the Super Audio layer renders those
insights all the more tangible, adding greatly to the sense
of renewal and rediscovery.

In fact the recording
engineers have surpassed themselves here – no mean feat, given
their spectacular achievements in the Second and Fourth Symphonies.
I’d go so far as to say this is one of the most three-dimensional,
life-like Mahler Fifths I’ve heard in a very long time. Perspectives
are entirely natural, the brass ring out without ever sounding
strident and the amount of inner detail uncovered – a characteristic
of this cycle – is simply astonishing. As I remarked in my review
of the Fourth, Zinman removes all the accumulated grime from
these vast canvases, and while the result is not as radical
as Sir Roger Norrington’s it’s altogether more satisfying.

Zinman may seem
a little tame in the wilder moments of the first movement but
he is suitably stürmisch in the second, those stabbing
rhythms superbly projected. He articulates the funeral march
very well indeed, surrounded as it is by spectral wisps of sound.
And no-one could accuse him of lacking vehemenz in the
orchestral outbursts, the Zurich band always responding with
passion and bite. More important Zinman has a firm grasp of
the movement’s architecture, screwing up the tension and releasing
it at all the right points while still maintaining overall control
and coherence.

If the tectonic
plates of the second movement grind together with massive, spectacular
results then the ensuing Scherzo: Kräftig, nicht zu schnell
seems idyllically stable by comparison. Surely we are back in
Wunderhorn territory, Mischa Greull’s obbligato horn
playing as relaxed and sunny as I’ve ever heard it. And if Zinman
paces the funeral marches perfectly he is just as adroit in
the waltz-like rhythms here. Of course there are a few aftershocks
but in between there is much to savour, including those delectable
pizzicato strings at 7:09. As for the percussion they are simply
splendid, the cymbals sounding very natural indeed.

The Adagietto’s
relentless association with Death in Venice is most unfortunate
but then this music is often played so slowly and overlaid with
so much sentimentality that it seems positively funereal. Mahler
expert Gilbert Kaplan has argued for a brisker tempo – he has
even released a recording of this movement to prove his point
– but more important, surely, is that a simple, sensitively
phrased approach works best here. One could argue that Zinman
is a touch too clear-eyed but he shapes – rather than
moulds – the music very persuasively, never allowing the underlying
pulse to flutter and fade. It’s deeply felt, too, soulful but
not exaggeratedly so. The harp is beautifully caught, the massed
strings sounding suitably silken. For once the Adagietto
sounds like it should do, as some of the most luminous, life-affirming
music Mahler ever wrote.

I once heard Claudio
Abbado deliver a quite terrifying reading of the Rondo-Finale
that has stayed with me ever since. Even though Zinman can’t
quite match that he comes close. Indeed, it may all seem too
helter-skelterish at times but the music – and this orchestra
– can easily sustain it. If I have any quibbles it’s that Zinman
doesn’t always delve deeply enough here. That said one can’t
deny the sheer impact of his reading.

Zinman’s Mahler
won’t please everyone, as indeed Norrington’s doesn’t, but this
Fifth is very special indeed. In many ways it builds on the
considerable strengths of the first four recordings in this
cycle, all of which have renewed these works for me in ways
I scarcely thought possible. It’s not the only Mahler Fifth
I would wish to own – Leonard Bernstein’s DG account and Klaus
Tennstedt’s live performance on HMV Classics are especially
fine – but if you’re looking to rediscover this great symphony
you’ve come to the right place.

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